Raphtalia Discovers
by Vargras
Summary: Modern Japan is already difficult enough to navigate at times for foreigners, doubly so if they're foreign to the world itself. It's an unfortunate category that Raphtalia falls under. Post-Canon.
1. Raphtalia Discovers The Internet

"_I'll be gone for about an hour. Please don't do anything too crazy."_

It had been with those words that Naofumi had left, headed out into the city to do some quick shopping at the grocery for what he wanted to cook up later that evening. And it had been with those words that Raphtalia now tried to busy herself to pass the time whilst he was away. She didn't necessarily _mind_ being alone - it wasn't as if she was some lovesick puppy who needed constant attention from him. But being in a foreign country _and_ a foreign world had meant that her mere presence introduced some… complications.

For starters, they were still on the fence as to whether or not her ears and tail were completely visible to others. Naofumi's brother hadn't seemed terribly bothered by it, so either he couldn't see them at all, or he _could_ and simply hadn't paid much attention to them. In any case, the results from one person couldn't be applied to the masses, and so it was often considered a safer choice to simply have her stay at the house.

The moment he had stepped out the door, she had a singular goal in mind - his computer. He had already explained to her how it functioned, as well as how it could connect to a vast global network that housed the collective information of the entirety of humanity, something she found to be both extraordinary and almost inconceivable. There had even been a bit of extra legwork on his part to make things a bit more accessible. Her status as a vassal hero meaning that speech was automatically translated for her, but text was not.

And… computers were predominantly text-based.

So, text to speech had been flipped on for a special account he had made just for her (she couldn't read the name at all on the login screen, but instead recognized it by the cherry blossom icon he had selected), a crash course had been given on how to even _use_ a computer, and the rest had simply been left to her. She learned best when she could get hands-on with something anyways, and it wasn't as if there was any real harm in trial-and-error.

With that in mind, she had already scuttled away to his room, taking a seat before his computer and guiding the mouse to her own profile.

She… wasn't terribly certain what to do after that. She had watched _him_ use it plenty, but now that she was alone, she was suddenly drawing blanks. Maybe if she just… looked at some of the icons, it'd jog her memory.

Except it wasn't. Aside from one that looked much like a trash can, she didn't really recognize any of these. Most of the pictures looked horribly vague, or were so overly-stylized that she had no real idea what they even _could_ be.

_Wait. Maybe… this one?_

The mouse moved her towards an icon that looked like an orange 'U' upon a blue backdrop, and clicking it soon brought her to a more familiar site - a homepage. Progress!

...and a sudden setback. _What came next again?_

She remembered Naofumi using the keyboard to type various words into the bar near the top, but of course, she couldn't make heads or tails of it. It was a Japanese keyboard, of _course_ she didn't know what any of it meant. But… wait, text to speech was on, wasn't it?

A finger pressed one of the keys, resulting in a simple "E" sound from one of the speakers. The rest of the bar suddenly filled in with numerous results, and she was very quickly beginning to feel overwhelmed. One of the results was frantically clicked, if only to try and make everything else go away, and she was quickly brought to a rather colorful website.

None of it made any sense to her, of course, but it _did_ look rather pleasant. The logo in the corner seemed to be red, blue, yellow, _and_ green, certainly not nearly as consistent as some of the others she had seen while running through the streets with Naofumi after her sudden arrival. There were also a slew of other pictures present before her, with text and numbers below several of them. Her attention was suddenly drawn elsewhere, by a flashing picture along the side, and with her curiosity getting the better of her, she gave it a click.

"_Congratulations! You've won!"_

The sound had just about sent her jumping out of her own skin, and with her tail suitably puffed from fright, she squinted and leaned a bit closer. All she could really make out was the picture of a small, strange-looking silver box."I… won? What did I win?"

"_Congratulations! You've won!"_

"Yes, I know. Could you please tell me what it is I've won?"

The screen made no real recognition of her question, and instead continued to spew out the same line through the speaker._ "Congratulations! You've won!"_

"I know!" Ears now flicking in irritation, she leaned ever closer, almost pressing her cheek against the monitor. "Whoever is in there, please tell me what I've won!"

It merely droned on, repeating the same line, and she could feel herself becoming increasingly aggravated from getting stonewalled by whoever had been offering her something. Cutting her losses, she instead decided to simply forsake whatever it was her prize was to be, and clicked the 'X' in the corner to make it disappear - she had at least remembered _that_ much from watching Naofumi.

Doing so simply made another box appear, this one featuring the image of a human man and woman, who wore… not a whole lot, really. The appearance rapidly sent her as far back in the chair as it would allow.

"_Hot singles in your area want to meet you!"_

"What?!" She certainly didn't appreciate having the people inside the computer throw her emotions around so quickly, hastily pushing her from shocked, to surprised, to aggravated, and now… to flustered. "I'm, um… flattered, really. But there's already someone else I'm interested in…"

Unlike the previous picture, this one didn't talk to her any further, and instead sat still upon the screen, continually flashing its message. Something about having the man and woman simply _staring_ at her was… a little unnerving.

"I'm… going to go now. I'm sorry if I upset you at all." Raphtalia cocked her head a bit, as she eyed the screen with suspicion. "I'm simply not interested, though. I'm sure you understand."

The image continued to stare right back at her. Unyielding. Unblinking. _Whoever these people are, they're awfully determined…_ It reminded her of Motoyasu, and not in a good way. Another quick movement of the mouse, and the judgmental picture disappeared, leaving her right back where she had started. No one-or rather, nothing-was really trying to speak to her here, but that was fine.

Scrolling down the page, she soon found something that piqued her interest - a picture of a rather large wok, not unlike what Naofumi sometimes used when he cooked. _Hadn't he been talking earlier about wanting a new one?_ Curious, she clicked upon it, bringing her to yet another page. The picture of the wok still remained, but this time, several more numbers had appeared, and she wasn't entirely sure what any of them meant.

Two of the numbers kept changing, and she simply stared at them as she tried to decipher their meaning. One looked like it was going… up? And the other was going down. Was this perhaps simply some game? Her eyes flashed with realization as a thought came to mind - if she played this game, and were to get a new wok for Naofumi to use… he'd no doubt be elated, wouldn't he? _Oh, how perfect!_

She had always thought of herself as a fast learner anyways. It shouldn't take horribly long for her to figure out this game if she simply studied it for a bit, watching the numbers change every few minutes. There was a small box next to the picture, with several buttons next to it, and she cautiously pressed a few keys into the box before giving the button a click.

The number went up. And then it went up again, with a small message cropping up in the corner.

_Ah, so that's it! The entire point of the game is to make the number go up!_ _And surely whoever reached the highest number won the game, yes?_

She entered another number into the box, and clicked the button again. The number rose, and abruptly stopped rising. Had she managed to be the highest number? The other number simply continued to tick down, and after a few more minutes of nothing else happening, another message suddenly appeared. She wasn't entirely sure what this meant either, but she could at least recognize the symbol for 'yen', Naofumi's native currency. Were they perhaps giving her a cash prize as well for winning? A few more clicks, and the message vanished just as quickly as it had appeared, with what she assumed to be a congratulatory announcement showing up afterwards.

_Oh, Naofumi-sama's going to be so happy!_

* * *

"Raphtalia? I'm back."

Ducking her head out his bedroom door, she smiled and waved. "Welcome home, Naofumi-sama."

"Guessing it was easy enough for you to keep busy?" He was already in the midst of setting some groceries down upon the counter, laying some out for the meal prep he would no doubt be starting in just a few short minutes. "Sorry for just leaving you behind, but we don't know yet how people might react to you."

"Oh, it's fine, really! I, um… I got you a present, Naofumi-sama, though…" Taking a few cautious steps away from his computer, she scratched at her cheek a bit in thought. "I'm… not completely sure when or how it's supposed to get here?"

"A present, huh? What'd you manage to…" He trailed off, looking up from a carton of eggs to simply stare at her. "Wait. You're… not sure how it's supposed to get here? Raphtalia, what did you do?"

"W-Well… I was on your computer, and… I had one person telling me I won something, but then someone else tried to tell me they were interested in me. But I stood my ground and told them I was simply _not_ interested in them, that I instead already had you, and-"

"No no, not… not that. What _else_ did you do?"

"Oh! Well, I found this odd little game on your computer! All you did was simply make a number go up before the other went all the way down, so I thought I'd play it and… maybe win something for you."

He narrowed his eyes a bit. "And… _where_ did you play this game at?"

"Um… I… don't really know what it's called, but it was awfully colorful."

"Hold on." Setting a carton of milk down, he quickly brushed past her, peeking into his own room and staring at the screen. "Raphtalia, why were you on Ebay?"

He would end up spending the next hour on the phone with customer support, trying to calmly explain that _no_, he hadn't meant to spend eighteen thousand yen on a single cast iron wok. Raphtalia was also promptly banned from using the internet without direct supervision as well, though he also made it absolutely clear that he wasn't angry at her in any way. The sentiment had certainly been appreciated, at least, and he thought it was kind of her to be thinking of him like that.

As long as she wasn't spending a small fortune on a singular item in an online bidding contest, he was more than happy having her keep him in her thoughts.


	2. Raphtalia Discovers Anime

He had lied to her.

Never before had he ever done such a thing. Maybe to _others_, but never to _her_.

And yet she now held proof of his sin in her very hands.

Naofumi had lied to her — no, not _just _'Naofumi'. Her _beloved _Naofumi, the very same man that she had wound up in a relationship with. She lived with him, ate with him, even shared a bed with him! They were a _couple! _And he had simply… kept this hidden from her? _The entire time?_

Such transgressions simply could not be left alone. She had every intention of confronting him with it the moment he came through the door, and—

"Raphtalia? I'm home."

_There!_

She marched directly towards him, hands clenched tightly around the object in question, and her tail lashing furiously behind herself even as he began to unpack several groceries from his latest shopping trip. "Naofumi-sama!"

He gave her a quick glance up from the various food items strewn about the counter, smiling warmly at her before continuing his work. "How was your day?"

"How was _my _day?!"

"Um." Something about the tone of her voice had caught him off guard, forcing him to look up from what he was doing and lock eyes with her. "Is… something wrong?"

"_Yes_, something's wrong! You thought to hide _this _from _me?!"_

The offending item was held aloft, her fingers still wrapped around it, and Naofumi gave it a curious look. "...Where did you find that?"

"In _our _room. How long were you planning on keeping this a secret from me, hm?"

"I thought I had lost it, to be honest." Reaching over towards her, he gently pried it from her grasp and gave it a look over. "Still kinda dusty, but the case is still shut, so the discs are probably fine. You wanna watch it together later?"

_Wait… watch? _Staring a bit, she instead stood her ground. "Naofumi-sama, how long did you think to hide the presence of _other _demi-humans from me? Do you know how long I've been here, thinking I was the only one?"

"...What? Wait, are you talking about Holo?"

Her tail quickly bristled at the unfamiliar name, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Yes! Exactly!"

"Raphtalia, Holo's fictional."

Suddenly perplexed, she stared even more. "What?"

"It's… an anime? Called 'Spice and Wolf'?"

"Annie… may?"

"Yeah, like on the TV?"

Right… the 'television', the picture box Naofumi had set up in the living room. On occasion, she and Naofumi would both lay on the couch together and watch various things on it, sometimes including some of the 'annie mays' he had just mentioned. Very clearly fictional, given that everyone and everything within them was most certainly drawn, but it was difficult to tell at times with a simple illustration such as what she had found. It was… not terribly unlike what a store or restaurant might have used in Melromarc for an advertisement.

Suddenly feeling rather foolish at herself for getting so worked up over something as trivial as this, both ears and tail alike had taken on a somewhat deflated look, only to perk right back up the moment Naofumi gave her a pat on the head. "I think you'd like it, really."

"Oh?" Peering at him a bit, she also couldn't truly hide the sheepish grin she was now sporting.

"I, um… can't exactly _read _it, you know. I just… saw the person on the cover, and..."

"You're doing well enough with picking up on Japanese. It's not the easiest thing to learn. Though the whole thing's about a traveling merchant who ends up roaming around with a wolf god."

"I didn't see a wolf on the cover at all, though."

"Sure you did. That's her, right there." Naofumi gave the front of the case a quick tap, his finger directly atop the girl present upon it. "She can transform."

"...like Sadeena and Keel?"

"Exactly. There's other parts of it that I think you'd like as well, but… well, those would be spoilers."

Another curious look. "Naofumi-sama, what's a 'spoiler'?"

"Oh, it's…" He briefly set down the case upon the counter, if only to begin putting away the perishable items. "It's kind of like… um… this jug of milk I'm holding. If it's ruined, it's _spoiled_, right?"

She nodded, seemingly understanding.

"A spoiler is something that possibly ruins something for someone else. The word gets used a lot for anime, movies, and video games."

"Oh. I see… I think."

"Anyways, if you want to watch it together after dinner, we can. I don't have anything else going on, and like I said, I think you'll enjoy it. You can draw some… _interesting _parallels with it."

Raphtalia gave him another look, even as she watched him begin to organize items for the evening meal. "Parallels with what?"

"I've already said too much." A grin and a wink. "You'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

She soon discovered _just _what it was he had meant. A human man and a girl who was most definitely _not _human, traveling the world together and steadily falling for one another? Just _what _could that have possibly reminded her of?

The intensely cuddly nature of their evening on the couch together had been evidence enough of the 'what', and the ending had resulted in more than its fair share of kisses between them, especially after the revelation of the two characters marrying and having a child together.

Refilling the popcorn bowl dropped several spots on their list of priorities.


	3. Raphtalia Discovers Kotatsus

Never before had Raphtalia felt such indescribable bliss.

Or, well… she _had_, on several occasions, really. First there had been finding out Naofumi was the Shield Hero, then the time in which he had sat her down and they had a serious talk about their feelings (culminating with the beginning of a true and proper relationship), and _then_ when she had traveled back with him to his own world to begin a new life together.

This had simply been the most recent. Winter was beginning to encroach upon Japan, and though _he_ didn't necessarily mind the cold very much, _she_ was still not used to it in the slightest. To help prepare, and also to fill a conspicuous gap in the living room floor, Naofumi had gone out and bought a rather odd-looking table.

He had called it a 'kotatsu'. It wasn't terribly high, but it _did_ have a blanket sprawling out from the middle of it. Or, at least, _she_ thought it was a blanket. He had kept explaining that it was actually a 'futon', but it was so terribly thin that to her, it might as well have simply been a blanket. That wasn't even the best part, however!

No, the best part had been how delightfully _warm_ it was beneath it. It wasn't terribly unlike sinking one's self into Filo's feathers, though this had the added bonus of not constantly begging for food or attempting to steal the affections of the man you were interested in. She had been so delightfully happy, so utterly content to simply lay beneath it whilst Naofumi was away on another errand, that she… supposed she may have fallen asleep and taken a bit of an afternoon nap.

"Raphtalia?"

Her ears twitching at the sound of her name, she slowly opened her eyes, still bleary from her rest. It was only then that she realized that, at some point, she had managed to nestle most of herself _beneath_ the kotatsu, meaning… Naofumi probably didn't know where she was. Ordinarily, she'd feel bad for hiding something as important as _herself_ from him, but…

This was a rare opportunity. It wasn't terribly often she got to do things such as this, though she _may_ have frowned a bit upon hearing him call her name once more.

There was the faint sound of footsteps as he (as expected) began to roam the house, seemingly checking every room possible for any sort of sign of her. The steps grew closer until they were practically right next to her, and Raphtalia could feel her heart in her throat — _why is my heart racing? What am I, some child?_

She hoped no one would answer that question, given what they would likely have said. A few more steps, and Naofumi was mere inches away from her, his shadow plainly visible outside the kotatsu. With her hands covering her mouth, she quietly watched as he seemed to bend down, and—

"Eep!" A squeal and a soft bump of her own head upon the bottom of the table, caused by him giving her tail a quick grab.

"Found ya."

"N-Naofumi!" She poked out from beneath the futon, glaring up at him. "You _know_ how sensitive my tail is!"

"Sure, but it was sticking out from underneath the kotatsu. Once I figured out you were _purposely_ trying to hide, well…"

_Dammit, betrayed by my tail again! _"Still, you shouldn't just go grabbing my tail without warning!"

He flashed her a quick grin, gently ruffling the hair between her ears. "You want me to stroke it to make up for it? Maybe brush it for you?"

"Wha?!" Suddenly caught off guard, and with her face becoming more flushed by the second, she tried her very best _not_ to look interested in the slightest at the idea of her boyfriend getting affectionate with her. "I-I mean, maybe it… _might_ make up for what you just did…"

"You can just say 'yes', you know. C'mon out from under there, and I'll give you some TLC."

Raphtalia peered up at him, blinking. "...'tee el see'?"

"It's, uh… an acronym, for 'tender loving care'."

"Oh."

Several seconds passed, consisting of Raphtalia and Naofumi simply looking at one another, eventually resulting in a quiet laugh from him. "You, uh… you don't want to get out from under there, do you?"

Ears flattening out of embarrassment, she glanced elsewhere, mumbling out a simple "It's warm…"

"That's fine. Make some room."

"...What?"

She scarcely had time to question what it was he meant by the statement, when he had already begun to wiggle his way beside her. "I'm _really_ too big for this, you know."

"I, um… I see nothing wrong in indulging your inner-child from time to time, Naofumi."

"No, I meant… I'm _physically_ too big for this. I can barely fit under here next to you."

That resulted in the second "Oh" of the day, and in short succession no less. "I… suppose I'll simply have to scoot closer to you, then?"

"You sound _so_ disappointed."

"You have _no_ idea how disappointed I am right now, Naofumi." She let out a soft sigh of delight as she felt him gently grab her tail and begin to run his fingers along the length of it, and it was perhaps fortunate that he couldn't see her blush very well. "No idea at all…"

"Uh huh."

"Why, this doesn't even _begin_ to make up for you scaring me by grabbing my tail, so—"

"So I'll just _have_ to lay here next to you, under the kotatsu, and give both your tail _and_ you lots of attention? Is that it?"

A sly grin slowly began to spread across her face. "You always were a fast learner."

"Yeah, well…" Chuckling to himself, Naofumi was more than happy to simply bury his face in her hair, one hand slipping beneath her body to grasp at her own hand whilst his other continued to tend to her tail. "I can think of worse ways to spend the afternoon. This really isn't so bad."

And he was right. It really wasn't.


	4. Raphtalia Discovers Anniversaries

"Naofumi-sama, what's going on?"

"You'll see."

"It's… nothing sexual, is it? Not that I mind, but…"

"What? No, of course not. I would've told you if it was. Just keep it on a bit longer."

Resigning herself to her fate, Raphtalia huffed, ears twitching as she strained to hear anything at all that might tip her off as to what her boyfriend was planning — the blindfold she was wearing certainly wasn't doing her any favors, though she did _at least_ have him leading her along by the hand. A few more steps, though she still wasn't quite sure where she was or where she was even _going, _and she began to pick up on the faint aroma of… something. _Sweet? No, that's not quite right… savory as well? _

It seemed Naofumi had cooked up dinner for them. She had certainly known his cooking well enough to know what he had made on a given day just off scent alone, a feat made slightly less impressive by the fact that her own sense of smell was several times greater than that of an ordinary human. One of the perks of being a demi-human, she supposed. Still, this dish was unfamiliar to her. Did he perhaps make it for whatever this mystery occasion was? She felt his hands upon her shoulders as he seemed to gently guide her to a chair, waiting until she was seated before pushing it in for her. A few more steps could be heard, the sound of another scraping chair, and then: "Okay, Raphtalia. You can take it off now."

Reaching behind her head, she found that the knot keeping the blindfold tied together had been purposely left loose —perhaps because he trusted her enough to not peek early —and removing it was a rather simple affair. When next she opened her eyes, it was to find that she had indeed been correct. Naofumi _had_ cooked up something for the both of them, but the presentation had… certainly been on a level she hadn't been expecting.

There were several plates before her, dishes she had never seen before and had never known him capable of even making. There were candles, glasses, and a bottle of wine… despite the fact that neither of them was really all that capable of even feeling the effects of alcohol. And, on the other side of the table from herself, was a faintly smiling Naofumi, already in the midst of pouring a glass for her.

"Naofumi-sama, what…?"

"Happy anniversary, Raphtalia."

"...Anniversary?" She blinked, staring at him a bit, even as she readily took a glass of wine from him. "Anniversary of what?"

"...Us?" In spite of his own attempts at remaining serious, a faint grin was readily apparent upon his face as he poured himself a glass. "I know time moves differently between here and your world, but that hasn't stopped me from trying to keep track of how long we've been together."

"It's… already been a year?"

"Yep."

"...I see." Her ears flattening somewhat, she simply stared at her own glass, her voice soft and mood dour. "You must think me a horrible girlfriend, Naofumi-sama."

"And why's that?"

"I'm… afraid I forgot what day it was. I don't have anything to give you to help celebrate it, or… a way to show my appreciation for getting to share a year of my life with you like this."

"Sure you do. You're doing it right now." Idly swirling the contents of his glass about, he flashed her a grin before sipping at it. "Just being able to do this with you is enough for me. I mean, it's… not a fancy restaurant or anything, and this is the first time I followed a recipe for a lot of what I made for this. But… it's nice, sharing these little moments with you."

_...Of course Naofumi-sama wouldn't be mad at me. _And why would he? Ever since she had followed him back to his own world, she had known nothing but happiness. Their relationship, distant and tenuous as it might have sometimes been in her own world, had blossomed into a true and proper one. Naofumi's own disposition had softened greatly, and he had proven to be a surprisingly affectionate and attentive lover. They even had a home of their own — they lived together, ate together, slept together. And they had done so for an entire _year_ now. Of _course_ he wouldn't be mad at her, as even he had pointed out that the flow of time was different between worlds, something that would have no doubt made it difficult for her to keep track of how many days, weeks, or months had even passed. But… "I still feel bad for forgetting about it, you know. You'd think that, of all people, _I_ would have been the one to remember. But instead, it's you."

"One of us has to remember. And I know how important it would have been to you."

"So you've been keeping track of it this whole time."

"Of course." Glass still held aloft, he gestured towards her. "We can keep talking like this, but the food's just gonna get cold. So how about a toast?"

"A toast?" Giggling, and her mood markedly improved compared to what it had been mere moments before, she took her own wine in-hand and held it up as well. "Should… you start, or should I?"

"I can go first, though… uh, I… don't think I've ever done one of these before."

"I'm sure you'll do your best, Naofumi-sama."

"Right. Um… a toast, to us, and to another year together."

Raphtalia faintly laughed, eyeing him across the table. "Awfully succinct."

"Hey, I said I've never done one before. And it's your turn now."

"Very well. A toast… to our friends and loved ones, in this world and across all others. To all of those who allowed us to even reach this point in our lives. And… to perhaps the greatest man I've ever been fortunate enough to know, and to love. I can't wait to spend more years by your side."

Naofumi quietly chuckled, shaking his head as he covered his face with his free hand. "...Yeah, that's definitely better than what I said."

"Yours was still good!"

"Not as good as yours."

"Of course it was! Just… perhaps in a different way."

"You certainly know how to wound a man's pride."

A sudden thought flashed through her mind, and Raphtalia gave him an impish grin as she brought her glass towards his with a quiet _clink._ "...And what if I want to do more than that later on, Naofumi-sama?"

"Oh? Is that a _threat?" _To his credit, Naofumi certainly wasn't _nearly_ as dense as often believed by others — if anything, he caught on quite quickly, showing a grin of his own as he gave his wine a quick sip. "Careful not to say anything you can't follow up on."

"Think of it less as a threat, and more as a promise. After all, we have to celebrate our anniversary, don't we?"

"I thought that was what the dinner was for?"

"...And who's to say we can't do more than that?"

His grin grew into a rather broad smile, and another quiet laugh slipped out of him as he grabbed a fork for one of the plates in front of him. "Raphtalia… you're _relentless_ when you want to be, you know that? Save the flirting for after dinner, we'll have plenty more time for it then."

"As you wish, Naofumi-sama. And… happy anniversary."


End file.
